C A L I F O R N I A
FieldCrops A SPECIAL GROWERS’ REPORT OF AG ALERT ®
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A drone hovers near a farm field during a University of California Cooperative Extension field day. Recent work by UC researchers shows the potential for using unmanned aerial vehicles to apply insecticides to control worm damage in alfalfa fields.
In test, drones apply insecticides to alfalfa fields ByBob Johnson
There have been other UC trials using drone application of crop protectionmaterials, with promising results. Giles described “good experience” with fungicide or insecticide applications in grapes, and “good deposition” with hull-split treatments in orchards. Giles is a specialist inengineering for pest control andplant protection, particularly the development of target sensing and sprayer control technology. The 2020 UC trials were conducted in two Yolo County alfalfa fields, with both drone andairplaneapplicationof the insecticidePrevathon, which is activeonchewing insects. Water-sensitive paper spray cardswere set in the alfalfa fields to compare coverage using the two applicationmethods. “The results of the spray cards showed that both thedrone andairplane insecticide ap- plicationmethods had equivalent spray coverage,” the researchers reported. “The drone applicationhad a bitmore variability in terms of depositionuniformity than the airplane application, but this was not due to inherent qualities of the drone, but instead that the drone-based spray technology needs to be fine-tuned.” Theairplanehadaminimumcoverageof 4.1%, ameancoverageof 8%andamaximum coverage of 12.9%. The drone provided aminimumcoverage of 2%, amean coverage of 9.8%and amaximumcoverage of 19.3%. The researchers reported“fewdifferences” in residue concentrations of the insecticide
Drones could prove to be a valuable tool for applying insecticides in situations where an infestation is too localized formanned aircraft tomake sense and employee shortag- es or field access issues make ground applications difficult, according to University of California research. The numbers are in fromworkUC researchers did last summer, comparing drone and airplane applications to control worms in alfalfa—and the drones looked promising. “Weevaluated theefficacyof drones compared toairplanes for applying insecticides for summer wormcontrol in alfalfa hay fields,” saidUCCooperative Extension farmadvisor Rachael LongandUCDavisprofessorof biological andagricultural engineeringKenGiles. “Therewerenodifferences inthesummerwormcountsbetweenthe twoaerial application methods, with both the drone and airplane applications significantly reducing summer worms compared to the untreated control.” Drones are alreadywidelyused for agricultural applications inother parts of theworld, they said, and likelywill be here too, once regulatory barriers are overcome. “Drone technology is being used in China and other areas in Southeast Asia, but not commonly intheU.S. yet,”Longsaid. “We’reconfident theywill beusedmore inthe future. Use of drones—UAV or unmanned aerial vehicles—for pesticide applications in agricul- tural crops is escalating and becoming a reality for farmproduction.”
See DRONES, Page 8
May 19, 2021 Ag Alert 7
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